Research in Human Movement Studies
The School of Human Movement Studies has strengths in the bio-physical, behavioural, and socio-cultural aspects of movement and physical activity.
Consolidated research programs exist in the following areas:
- Biomechanics
- Exercise Physiology
- Motor Control
- Health & Physical Education Pedagogy
- Socio-Cultural Aspects of HMS
- Sport & Exercise Psychology
- Physical Activity & Health
Research Degree Opportunities
Current HMS Research Students
Biomechanics
Biomechanics involves the use of the mechanical principles of physics and engineering to study human motion and the mechanical properties of biological tissues. Applications include the study of movement in sporting situations (sports biomechanics), in work environments (occupational biomechanics), in rehabilitation settings (clinical biomechanics) and where there are interactions between the nervous system and mechanical properties of the body (neuromechanics).
Staff and Research Interests
Andrew Cresswell, Med Dr (neuromechanics: neurophysiology, muscle fatigue, strength, postural control). More information on these areas can be found at the following link NEUROMECHANICS.
Robin Burgess-Limerick, PhD (ergonomics and human factors, manual handling, movement control, injury mechanics, office ergonomics)
Craig Engstrom, PhD (sports injury, musculoskeletal adaptation, technique analysis)
Adjunct and Honorary Staff
Gary Dennis, PhD (spinal mechanics during lifting, manual handling, lower back pain in the workforce)
Peter Myers, MBBS (orthopedic biomechanics, knee injury mechanics)
Exercise Physiology
Exercise Physiology/Biochemistry is concerned with the study of the responses of the various physiological systems to exercise. The work focuses on both the acute and chronic adaptations to physical activity and involves different levels of analysis from molecular, through cellular, to system level.
Staff and Research Interests
Jeff Coombes PhD (exercise & cardiovascular disease, nutrition & cardiovascular disease, high intensity training, oxidative stress & atherosclerosis, antioxidant supplementation, exercise & apoptosis, nutritional ergogenic aids)
David Jenkins PhD (nutrition & exercise, physical & activity levels of children, exercise & indigenous health)
Carrie Ritchie PhD (physical activity prescription & programming, adoption & maintenance of physical activity, physical activity and health)
Melanie Sharman GradDip(ExRehab) (motor control and exercise rehabilitation)
Dennis Taaffe PhD (exercise gerontology, bone & osteoporosis, prevention of disability in the elderly)
Sean Tweedy PhD (physical activity for people with acquired brain injury, people with disabilities, physical activity & health, exercise science in rehabilitation, career paths in exercise science)
Adjunct and Honorary Staff
Laurel Mackinnon, PhD (exercise and the immune system, exercise metabolism, health promotion, public health education)
Frank Pyke, PhD (sports physiology, exercise in hot environments)
Motor Control
Motor Control is concerned with understanding how movement skills are controlled, how they develop and how they are acquired. The field examines issues that relate to both normal skill acquisition, coordination and control, plus how these processes are effected by factors such as injury, disability, disease, disuse and fatigue and involves a combination of approaches from neuroscience and cognitive science.
Staff of the Perception and Motor Systems Laboratory, and Research Interests
Bruce Abernethy (on leave), PhD (visual control of human movement, expertise in perception, cognition & action, perception & coordination of movement patterns, skill acquisition)
Tim Carroll, PhD (neural adaptations to training and exercise, non-invasive brain stimulation, strength training)
Aymar de Rugy, PhD (neuromuscular-skeletal constraints on coordination, rhythmic multijoint movements, visuomotor coordination and adaptation)
Stephan Riek, PhD (muscle modelling & simulation, neuromuscular adaptions to training, neuromuscular biomechanics)
Guy Wallis, PhD (visuo-motor co-ordination, driving & road safety, analysis & recognition of complex scenes, virtual reality)
Adjunct and Honorary Staff
Richard Carson, PhD (spinal & supraspinal control of movement, neuromuscular-skeletal constraints on coordination, cognitive demands of movement control)
James Tresilian, PhD
Health & Physical Education Pedagogy
The unifying focus of this area is the study of learning and instruction with a particular, but not exclusive, focus upon learning, curriculum design, and broader social issues as they pertain to health and physical education.
Staff and Research Interests
Rebecca Abbott, PhD (physical activity & diabetes, paediatric physical activity & health, telemedicine & health promotion)
Peter Hay, BScApp(HMS-Ed) (Physical edcuation teacher education)
Doune Macdonald, PhD (health & physical education curricula, physical education teacher education, teachers' work, young people & physical activity)
Cliff Mallett, PhD (motivation & the elite athlete, coaching elite athletes, evaluating coaching performance)
Louise McCuaig, BHMS(Ed) (health & physical education teacher subjectivities, contemporary health & physical education curricula)
Richard Tinning, PhD (physical education teacher education, school physical education, critical pedagogy, pedagogical work of HPE, physical education as health promotion)
Adjunct and Honorary Staff
Trish Glasby, PhD (health & physical education curriculum, development of on-line health interventions, teachers' work, schooling and the risk society)
David Kirk, PhD (curriculum innovation & change, the body & physical culture, situated learning in physical activity settings, teacher education & professional development, youth sport)
Jeffrey Thompson, BEd (health & physical education)
Socio-Cultural Aspects of Human Movement Studies
The unifying focus of this area is the study of learning and instruction with a particular focus on socio-cultural aspects of Human Movement Studies. This area is concerned with understanding the history, sociology and politics of sport and physical activity.
Staff and Research Interests
Murray Phillips, PhD (rugby league history, swimming history, historical methodologies, amateurism & Australian sport).
Gary Osmond, PhD (Australian and Pacific aquatic sport, racial stereotyping, sport myth, social memory and sporting histories)
Ian Jobling, PhD (Honorary Reader) (history of sport, gender in sport & physical activity, history of international sport & physical education, Olympic Education, morals & ethics in sport).
Sport & Exercise Psychology
Sport and Exercise Psychology involves the scientific study of human behaviour and cognition as it occurs within the context of sport and physical activity.
Staff and Research Interests
Stephanie Hanrahan, PhD (attributional style & achievement goal orientations, motivation in sport & exercise, psychological skills training, athletes with disabilities)
Michael Kellmann, PhD Habil. (overtraining prevention and recovery enhancement, sport psychological diagnostics and intervention, coach behaviour during competition and practice, personality and performance competence of coaches in sports)
Sue Jackson, PhD (psychological aspects of sport, exercise & health, flow theory in sport & physical activity, motivation, self-concept, stress & coping, optimal performance states)
Physical Activity & Health
This research area focuses upon the epidemiological evidence linking physical activity with health and disease and examines population-level interventions to increase community levels of physical activity. Research in this area focuses on the combined effects on health of physical inactivity and other risk factors for health such as poor nutrition, and the role of physical activity in the prevention and management of chronic illness.
Staff and Research Interests
Wendy Brown, PhD, (Physical activity, epidemiology & measurement, development, implementation & evaluation of physical activity behaviour change interventions, prevention & management of obesity & overweight, women’s health)
Don Bailey, PhD (Exercise & health, physical activity & skeletal health, growth & development, osteoporosis)
Nicola Burton, MPsych(Clinical), PhD (understanding and measuring psychosocial and environmental correlates of physical activity, physical activity epidemiology, physical activity and psychological health, promotion of lifestyle practices to optimize physical and psychological health)
Nicholas Gilson, BA(Hons) Human Movement Studies, PGCert Research Methodology, PhD (physical activity and health in young people and adults, with a specific emphasis on intervention strategies)
Kristiann Heesch, DrPH (women’s physical activity and health, understanding and measuring psychosocial and environmental correlates of physical activity, development, implementation, and evaluation of lifestyle physical activity interventions, minimum contact and pedometer-based physical activity interventions)
Jannique van Uffelen, PhD (physical activity and health, measurement of physical activity and the application of measures in epidemiologic research, understanding physical activity patterns in relation to changes in health status, promotion of physical activity and exercise in older adults, aging, cognition).
Adjunct and Honorary Staff
Peter Abernethy, PhD (physical activity and cardiovascular disease prevention, health promotion, strength development)
Adrian Bauman, PhD (physical activity, epidemiology)
Bill Bellew, MPH (physical activity, health promotion)
Stewart Trost, PhD (assessment, promotion & behaviour of physical activity, prevention & treatment of childhood obesity)
For more information about research contact:
David Jenkins
School of Human Movement Studies
Phone: (+61) 7 3365 6768
E- mail: pgrad.enquiries@hms.uq.edu.au